Ice mostly gone, caught up on the homework, haven't ridden in over a year.....
What a fine time to see if I can start the bikes up! Took well over half an hour; they've been sitting up on the blocks I put them on in October of 2007. But run they did, with a little persuasion. So it was off to the gas station with bike #1, which happened to be The Wife's ride. Then a little random riding to the neighboring town, and back. Until the siren went off. Nothing like enjoying yourself so much that you don't notice that State Trooper ten yards behind you. Who, after you stop, informs you he had to hit the siren because he's been following you the last half mile with the lights on. Oops. But, one of the good things about the Iowa State Patrol is that they are professional; and if you give them common courtesy, they're willing to listen to you. Even if you're wearing ratty old leather and havent shaved in five weeks. That willingness came in really handy when he told me me tag expired in September 08, and would I like to explain why I hadn't updated it, or why I was riding a bike registered to a female? Or why the proof of insurance was out of date?
It could have been worse. I'd been considering stopping it at the VFW for a beer before riding home, but thought that since I was on The Wife's bike, discretion was the better part of not tempting fate.
I lucked out. The trooper that stopped me actually listened to my explanation. Which amounted to "I was really excited to get out on a bike after being gone a year, and I wasn't smart enough to think about checking the plates". Fortunately, The Wife had renewed the registration, and we do have year-round insurance that was paid up, although I didn't have the proof on the bike. I received a warning, and was given a nice overview of the latest in patrol vehicle electronics after noting that when I was reservist in a one stoplight town years ago, all I ever had was a ticket book, radar gun, and a radio. Things have changed a lot in the last 15 years. But there's still good cops and troopers out there that will cut a break for someone who makes a mistake.
And the ride was still damn good.
2 comments:
To this day, I don't know why the state trooper let me go when my inspection sticker was 6 months out of date and I hadn't even noticed...
...he did mention in passing that he minored in Latin college and I had a Latin saying on my vanity plate...
...or maybe I just looked addled.
Dymphna,
I think the fact that he was a motorcyclist himself helped, and the knowledge I'd been out of the country for a year, when he saw my ID cards. The fact that I was well under the speed limit and using my turn signals the whole time I didn't know he was behind me probably didn't hurt either. Better than the first time I came back from the ME, I got ticketed for speeding the day I got home, in front of my house.
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